A boogie-rock trio formed in Wakefield in 1973 and originally called Quo Vardis, Vardis predated the New Wave of British Heavy Metal but happily accepted a leg up from the movement. They released three albums between 1981 and ’86 before band leader, guitarist and singer Steve Zodiac walked away from music.
The band reunited in 2014, and now a new retrospective album, titled 100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited, pulls together their earliest demo material. We caught up with Zodiac.
Classic Rock described 100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited as a “much-needed document”. Why did you consider it worth releasing?
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There was so much archive stuff in lockups and flight cases, so I thought, let’s see if we can get them to sound like they did when we were in the studio. I’m so impressed with how it came out.
The CD version adds three bonus recordings from July 1978, which you were “hesitant” to include.
That was a little garage recording done up in Wakefield. But on reflection, they have a certain charm. That’s why the vinyl edition is nine songs, but if people want a little bit more those extra three are added to the CD.
The album is on High Roller Records, a German independent label that specialises in NWOBHM-era music. Why did you go with them?
High Roller have a good reputation with restoring [material] and promoting older releases from a range of bands from across the continent. The album is a document of its time. It represents an era in music – not just Vardis, but the whole club scene of the 1980s. Hence the rusty old Transit van on the cover.
Is there going to be a follow-up to 2016’s Red Eye?
I’ve written a batch of songs. Hopefully it’ll be next year.
Vardis were among the last bands to perform before lockdown, at the 100 Club in London in March 2020 that produced a double live album.
I didn’t know if anybody would show up, especially in a club like that with everybody a bit rammed in. It was like there was sort of an unspoken panic, one of those moments where you think: “What’s going on? Is this gonna change everything forever?”
Vardis have a couple of European shows coming up, but why aren’t there any UK gigs lined up?
That would be lovely, and of course I’d like to, but a lot of it is logistics. Will we get approaches from festivals, and will the numbers add up? Touch wood it’s possible, but right now I really don’t know.
Vardis supported Slade and Hawkwind and appeared at some now iconic festivals including the Heavy Metal Barn Dance and the Heavy Metal Holocaust. Why did the band never break through?
That’s a good question, but a delicate one. It was disillusionment that caused me to walk away. I felt we were being manipulated and exploited. To a degree, I expect to be exploited, but I wanted people to be honest about it. So I just moved on. And it was very painful. I shed a tear when I cut my hair, even though it was dropping out a fair bit. Even today when I play live, I do the big old intro and the head goes down, and I can still feel it [the hair]. It’s a phantom feeling. It’s wonderful.
100 M.P.H. ’79 Revisited is available via High Roller Records.